Body preserving and burial vault unit



July 11, 1950 H. VAN BRIGGLE BODY PRESERVING AND BURIAL VAULT UNIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 27, 1947 lllivxrll f I I I I i I I 1 1 I I I I I L .M R mw Mm mm M W Mm I m 0 i W. .3 N 0 v m g H W H A Patented July 11, i950 BODY ransnavmg ign BURIAL VAULT Howard Van Briggle, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application March 27, 1947, Serial No. 737,479

4 Claims. (Cl. 27--35) My invention relates to burial vaults and more particularly to a vault of the type adapted to hermetically seal itself and be automatically locked upon assembly of the dome to the base, and made air and moisture or water proof.

Many vaults now in use are sealed against air by various trap devices and sealing units, but all such vaults permit the ingress of some quantities of moisture, which even though they may be small, tendto favor decomposition and activity of the body elements, andthe elements of the casket and'vault.

' The principal object of my invention is to provide a hermetically self-sealing, automatically locking vault which will permit no air or moisture to enter the interior. In accomplishing this result, the chemical composition of a deceased human body and casket materials will be held in a suspended state and inactive, and will be kept from disintegration.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated one complete example of the physical embodiment of my invention according to the best mode I have thus far devised, but it will be understood that various changes and alterations may be made in the exemplified structure within the scope-of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1, is a top plan view of the assembled and sealed vault;

, Figure 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse cross-sectional'view taken on line 33 of Figure 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows thereof;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the dome of the vault;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4, and looking in the direction of the arrows thereof;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of the base;

Figure '7 is a cross-sectional view of the base taken on line 'l-'! of Figure 6 and looking in the direction of the arrows thereof.

Referring now to the drawings, I provide in the preferred embodiment of my invention, a base 2, havin an upstanding central section 3 of inverted U-form in vertical section and extending longitudinally of the base, formed with spaced conical shaped buttons or supportin projections 4 and downwardly at 8 at an inclined angle, and upwardly at right angles thereto to form the outer wall it which extends vertically upwardly to form a trough at the outermost edges of the base 2.

At spaced locations along the sides of the walls 6, of the portion 3, are sharply and downwardly inclined skid or guide plates l2 which are posi tioned within the channel 7 formed by the walls ii and W.

The upper end of the outer wall I0 is bent inwardly and downwardly to form a ledge l4, hooklike in cross-section. The channel 1 formed by the trough part of the base is normally filled with a sealing material l5 such as highly viscous non-setting material, substantially solid, but penetrable by the dome ll at ordinary low temperatures. Tempered asphalt or material having similar characteristics may well be employed and is placed in the trough at the time of manufacture.

The cover or upper part of the vault or the dome ll has a top It and side walls I8 and end walls 20. The walls and ends are inset at 22, which tends to stiffen the dome l1.

At spaced locations near the lower edges of the side walls N3 of the dome ll, in alinement with the plates I2, I provide hook formations or clips 24 slightly inclined upwardly and substantially of the same angle as the ledge M. The lower panel of the dome housing will spring enough to permit the hook formations to pass the ledge l4 and be seated in the channel 7 formed by the trough l5 With the casket supported upon the conical shaped buttons 4 of the base 2, the dome H is lowered onto the base, the lower edge of the dome movin into the channel formed by the trough.

When the dome is placed in the proper position for assembly with the base, the lower edge begins to penetrate the sealing material, and in its descent the hooks will contact the base ledge I4. The flexibility of the lower panel of the dome permits the hooks to pass the base ledge l4 and further descent of the edge of the bell strikes the short guide plates 12 pushing the hooks outward under the edge of the base ledge I4. As the dome continues its descent in the sealing material, the lower edge contacts the bottom of the trough l5, which has a downwardly, outwardly sloping bottom 8, which forces the sealing material into a compact engagement with the lower part of the dome panel in contact with the base flange edge, and with this action of the assembly, completes the hermetically self-sealing, automatically look-- ing of the base and dome.

Ihe sealing material will accordingly be forced into the space between the outer wall I0, the ledge Hi, the bottom wall 8 and the sides and ends of the dome. An effective seal against air and water has now been created. The vault may now be moved as a unit, the flanges locking under the ledge.

The weight of the dome will insure a tight and close fit in the filled trough, and will accomplish the desired purpose.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A burial vault comprising a base having an inverted U-shaped central section with an outsection with the lower edge thereof positioned in the said trough, said cover having upwardly sloping clips on the outer surface spaced from the lower edge thereof, and said clips positioned to spring over the ledge of the flange of the base and snap under said ledge when forced down wardly against the slopin web of the base to lock the cover on the base.

2. A burial vault comprising a base having an inverted U-shaped central section with an out- .wardly and downwardly sloping web, extending continuously around the lower edge thereof and having a vertical upwardly disposed flange extended continuously around the outer edge of the web providing a, continuous trough around the said central section, the upper edge of said flange extended downwardly and inwardly providing a sloping ledge, said base having diagonally positioned skid plates extended from the intermediate portion of the downwardly sloping web to side walls of the central section thereof, and a cover substantially U-shaped in cross section positionedover the said central section with the lower edge thereof positioned in the said trough, said cover having upwardly sloping clips on the outer surface spaced from the lower edge thereof, and

said clips positioned to spring over the ledge of the flange of the base and snap under said ledge when the cover is forced downwardly against the 4 skids and sloping web of the base, to lock the cover on the base.

3. A body preserving and burial vault consisting of a base member and a cover member of inverted U-shape in section, the base member including a, platform, and a trough surrounding said platform and into which the edge of said cover is adapted to enter, the bottom of said trough being below said platform, a flange extending downwardly and inwardly of the trough from the outer wall thereof to closely adjacent the outer surface of said cover when the latter is in place, means in said trough adapted to force the side walls of said cover outwardly toward said flange.

4. A self-sealing body preserving and burial vault comprising a, base member and a cover member, the latter being of inverted U-shape in cross section and having laterally yieldable side panels, the base member including a platform and a trough therearound for containing a viscous penetrable sealing material into which the lower edge portion of said cover is adapted to enter, the bottom of said trough being below said. platform, a perimetric flange extending downwardly and inwardly of the trough from the outer wall thereof to adjacent the outer surface of said cover when the latter is in place, hook members eX- tending outwardly from said yieldable panels of the cover and engageable with said trough flange as the cover is lowered whereby said panels are displaced inwardly toward one another and the hooks may pass the flange, and means providing outwardly and downwardly inclined surfaces ad-. jacent the bottomof the trough, engageable by said panels to spread them to their original position against the resistance of the sealing material, whereby to dispose the hooks in position beneath the flange to prevent unintentional separation of the cover and base.

HOWARD VAN BRIGGLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name I Date Re. 20,816 Haase Aug. 2, 1938 1,152,853 Sherwood Sept. 7, 1915 1,475,756 Duval Nov. 27, 1923 1,713,479 Monie May 14, 1929 2,249,283 Brady et a1 July 15, 1941 

